Reading 

Our approach to the teaching of Reading.

At Lynsted and Norton School, our aim is to foster a love of reading that carries on into adulthood. Reading is given high profile within the school on a daily basis. We have children reading to themselves, individually to an adult, whole class and in small groups. All classes have a class book, so they can see adults modelling reading and expression. We want our children to become fluent and confident readers. The children also have access to our well stocked school library, meaning they can choose books that appeal to them. 

We start at the very beginning of learning to read, by using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds phonics in Reception. Children will continue having daily phonics lessons until they have mastered phase 5 sounds. Reading Practice sessions are also part of Little Wandle Letters and Sounds. These are taught every day and allow the children to embed their phonics knowledge in decodable reading books.  

The  Accelerated Reader program is also used when they are ready to progress from phonics.

The AR program enables the children to choose a book of their choice from a range of suitable texts that are accessible but still extending their reading skills. After each book, a short quiz assesses their comprehension and grasp of vocabulary. The AR program gives both the children and teachers valuable information about reading progress as well as helping to identify any areas of development for the child.  Parents and Carers can also be informed of their child’s success in the quizzes by signing up to the Home Connect facility on the AR program. For more information about AR, click here.

What does Reading look like in class?

Children will complete the reading scheme alongside Little Wandle Letters and Sounds, which matches with their phonic ability as they progress through the phonics phases. Once they have reached the end of Phase 5 phonics, they will be assessed using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds assessments to ensure that this is now ‘banked learning’. If children can read all GPCs and meet the assessment criteria set out by Little Wandle, they will move on to the school’s guided reading lessons.Children will complete the reading scheme alongside Little Wandle Letters and Sounds, which matches with their phonic ability as they progress through the phonics phases. Once they have reached the end of Phase 5 phonics, they will be assessed using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds assessments to ensure that this is now ‘banked learning’. If children can read all GPCs and meet the assessment criteria set out by Little Wandle, they will move on to the school’s guided reading lessons.

From when the children complete Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Phonic Scheme, whole class guided reading sessions are taught. Guided Reading strategies are introduced in from Year 2, however Little Wandle Letter and Sounds will still run along side this for the children who need this.

Guided Reading, using the strategy of VIPERS, is taught for 20-30 minutes four times each week. VIPERS focus on Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explanation, Retrieval and Summary (sequence KS1). Each half term, a different whole class text is used and questions stems are given to children to help build the skills of answering questions using specific vocabulary.

Within Guided Reading lessons, children are heard reading aloud and have the opportunity to read in learning partners.

Reading for pleasure

In each classroom you will find reading is being promoted through class displays showcasing children’s voice, texts we have previously enjoyed and why, probing/leading questions and highlights books to come.

Our library is stocked with a range of fiction and non-fiction texts for the children to use and borrow. During lunchtimes, children are able to come into the library to browse the books and either choose one to enjoy then or to take home. Classes also have a weekly slot where they can come in and use the library to explore the collection of texts we have or listen to an adult read a story.

Pupil voice November 2024 - carried out by subject lead.

When discussing who our favourite authors are and why...

Year 5 - "Adam Blade (Beast Quest), there is so much adventure - it feels like I'm in the book and know what's happening." 

Year 4 - "Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants), his characters are so funny!"

Year 3 - "I also like the author of Captain Underpants because he writes Dog Man too."